Accompaniment salad– must complement the main dish; should be light and flavorful

Main-Course salad– should contain a substantial portion of protein

Separate-Course salad– cleanse palate and refresh appetite; must be light

Dessert Salads – sweet and contain fruits, gelatin and nuts

The structure of a salad should include the following components:

Base or Underliner

Body

Garnish – edible decorative item added for eye appeal – simple

Dressing – seasoned liquid added to the body of salad for flavor, tartness, spiciness and moistness

Salads can be classified into the following categories:

Green Salads

Vegetable, Grain, Legume and Pasta Salads

Bound salads – held together with a dressing such as mayo

Fruit Salads

Composed Salads

Gelatin Salads

Gelatin dissolves in water at 100* and is mixed with cold liquid to avoid lumping; For flavored gelatin sweetened with sugar, use 24 oz of gelatin per gallon of water; For unflavored gelatin, use 2.5 oz per gallon of liquid; The setting power is weakened by acids so salads need more gelatin; Raw pineapple and papaya shouldn’t be added to gelatin

The incredible diversity of salad greens available makes salad recipes easy to create. You can choose from wonderful offerings such as:

Iceberg

Romaine or Cos

Boston

Bibb or Limestone

Loose-leaf

Escarole or Broad-leaf Endive

Chicory or Curly Endive

Frisee

Belgian endive or Witloof Chicory

Chinese Cabbage

Spinach

Watercress

Arugula

Mesclun – mixture of tender baby lettuce

Baby Lettuces

Sprouts

Microgreens

Tatsoi

Mizuna – Japanese mustard greens

Mache – corn salad, lamb’s lettuce/tongue, field salad

Radicchio

Treviso

Dandelion Greens

To enhance the flavor of your base ingredients, prepare one of the following types of dressings:

Oil and vinegar – ratio for vinaigrette is 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar

Mayonnaise-based – lecithin in egg is stabilizer

Cooked dressing – similar to mayo but made with starch thickener

And even when it comes to oil, you have so many choices to make your own recipe:

Corn – golden color but almost tasteless

Cottonseed, soybean, canola and safflower – all tasteless and commonly used for salad oil blends

Peanut – more expensive but provides a mild yet unique flavor

Olive – very distinctive flavor and aroma; while much more expensive, extra virgin is the best because it’s made from the first press of the olives

Walnut – very special taste but expensive and highly perishable

Winterized – treated to remain clear when chilled

Vinegar (or other acids such as citrus) provide further options for customization:

Cider – made from apples; brown and sweet

White – distilled and purified so neutral flavor

Wine – white or red wine-like flavor

Flavored – another product added

Sherry – made from sherry wine

Balsamic – dark brown; wine vinegar aged in wood barrels

To get ideas for how to start making your own dressing recipes, check out this post: